


Sandy thoughts

by Fuqinell



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: !!! DISCONTINUED !!!, Elf Allura & Coran, Emotional Growth, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Shiro are (somewhat) Adoptive Siblings, M/M, Mermaid Keith & Shiro, Mythical Beings & Creatures AU, Sea serpant Zarkon & Lotor, Slow burn!, Stranded on an island AU, Will add more tags as the plot develops- just know I do have things planed!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-09 05:32:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15260505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuqinell/pseuds/Fuqinell
Summary: Pidge's brother and Father had went on an expedition to find new life along the ocean waters, frequently sending Pidge letters about new information discovered and updates along the way. They even sent Pidge a spare map of their journey, as to make her feel more informed about the whole thing. Though, after a few weeks, the letters abruptly stopped being sent. She waited for as long as she could muster, but the worries were too hard to ignore. She had to take things into her own hands.With Lance sailing his boat 'Blue', Pidge mapping the way- giving precise directions of course-, and Hunk carpeting the boat along with being the best cook *ever*, it felt like nothing could go wrong. Spirits were high. Though, things take an abrupt turn after the three are hit by a thunderstorm, waking up to find themselves on a mysterious island.Who knows what can even be living there..?





	1. The ocean is not your plaything

  
"Hey, Lance, Buddy?" "..Mh?" "Sorry to break this to ya but.. your boat is crap. Where did you even buy this, or-, _oh god_ , tell me you didn't make this yourself."

This comment made Lance's distracted state pop away immediately. He sat up in defense quickly, jostling the boat ever so slightly. "Hey! If you insult the boat, you insult the man Hunk." He huffed out, resting a hand on his chest in an offended manner. Hunk only rolled his eyes with a muffled chuckle at the reaction. "Though, for a matter of fact, I did not build her. But I could totally make Blue a friend if I so pleased!" He rambled out angrily, pouting. Hunk and Pidge merely glanced at one another, doubt written all over their features, then burst out in a fit of laughter. " _Hey!_ Stop laughing! You both know I totally could." He barked back at the two, though soon found himself joining in as well.

After the laughter subsided it went quiet for a moment, the three of them basking in the relaxing quiet of the ocean. The sounds of water splashing, occasional bird caws, it was everything Lance could ask for. These were the sounds of an adventure! Laughter, waves clashing, it all felt so... surreal. All that was needed now were a few swords and an eye-patch. He found himself smirking at these thoughts, but man, if he was a pirate that would be so totally awesome. He could already feel his face melting into a giddy expression at the mere thought of it. All the loot, sword fights, ladies would be swooning left and right-- "Whatever you're thinking about, stop it. Your face looks stupid. Besides, we have a mission to focus on. We should be nearby to the final destination. It will only take a few hours at most." Pidge stated with an annoyed tone of voice, crossing her arms. She had a distant look in her eye, one of longing and sadness. Lance knew it was hard, not seeing family, not knowing if they were safe.

After popping himself out of his giddy ideas, Lance didn't mutter a single word and rested a hand on her shoulder, giving a small but sincere grin. She turned to him, a small smile resting on her features, a silent thank you lingered in the air. Her eyes then drifted back to the map in her hands- it rarely left her hands, even in sleep. Neither Lance or Hunk would pry, they all were on this expedition for a common goal after all. Finding Pidge's father and brother. And right now? That map is all she has left of them.

...The three are close, even before this expedition they were as well. Hunk and Lance were childhood friends due to their parents working in the same industry, neither of them remember their first meeting, but they've always been together. And along the way, around early middle school or so, Hunk met Pidge. They clicked instantly. Sometimes, well.. lots of times, Lance couldn't keep up with their excitable banter of such complex things. These things being new technology being introduced, how to configure what-chya-ma-call-its, yada yada. Though, one thing was for certain, they all cared for one another. That's why, when the situation arose for them to help Pidge when no one else would, none of them hesitated to lend a helping hand.

"..Ah yeah! Ahehe, forgot for a sec, but back to earlier about the boa- I mean blue..." Hunk stated after a beat of silence developed around them once more. Lance looked over with a suspicious glance, crossing his arms. "Jeez, don't start pouting at me yet dude!" Hunk laughed out. "But seriously, your 'Blue' is in bad condition, ya can only repair it so many times on water. The next stop we make, I'm gonna need more time to fix most of the problems. That okay with you Pidge?" Hunk asked, shooting a glance over to the hunched over girl. A shrug was her only response, she seemed lost in her thoughts as her eyes stayed glued to the map.

As Hunk was stating his previous comment, Lance's attention was more so focused on the sky above. What was once a beautiful blue view with a few puffy clouds now had various cumulonimbus clouds, it also didn't help as the sky seemed to darken. "Thunderstorm. This one is looking like a big guy." He muttered out to the others, eyebrows furrowed in worry. Something seemed.. off about this. One moment its the embodiment of a relaxing summer afternoon, the next it looks similar to the start of a horror movie. He felt a shudder roll through his spine at the idea.

  
"What the-!? _Every_ place we researched it said no chance of rain, let alone thunderstorms, anywhere in this relative area!" Pidge all but shouted out to the ocean, finally getting out of her lost-in-thought state of mind. She looked as though she had just seen someone spit on her valuables, scary... "Ohohono.. oh geez, this is bad.. so bad..." Hunk stuttered out, already looking a bit pale. Lance too was having rushing thoughts of fear going through his mind right now. Though, pushing these fears aside, Lance took a deep breath, forcefully quieting his nerves for now. "Okay, guys, chill. Yeah it's bad, but we've had worse!" Pidge and Hunk's expresions seemed to say otherwise. Lance winced at those annoyed yet terrified expressions but continued talking. "We have to stay caaalm. Look, it's simple! Pidge, you go to the communicator and send out our coordinates, in case something goes wrong- _which it wont_ \- just saying."

Pidge rolled her eyes at Lance's comments, though looked a bit more calm. Good, good. Lance then turned to Hunk and, gah- geez-- he doesn not look so good- "D-do ya think a sea monster is causing this? Oh god.. think m' gonna barf...." He slurred out with a panicked tone. "No! N-no, no sea monsters man. But you need to secure our supplies so they don't fall overboard, alright?" Lance asked with the most 'im toootally chill' voice he could muster up. Though, this seemed to have worked, as Hunk nodded and gave a joking salute- even if he did appear like he'd barf any moment. ...Though, honestly? It was super cool feeling alike to an actual pirate captain! Lance could feel his chest puff up in pride, a wide toothy smile forming on his features.

  
"Well crew, the captain-- I mean, sailor- me- will petal this baby to the metal! We have enough gas for another extra day, so it should be--" Then it happened. A loud piercing sound of lightning striking the ocean waters, not even a hundred feet away from them. The thunder afterwords sounded even more menacing, echoing through the sky and sending terror through lance's bones. And, even if he wouldn't admit this to anyone who asked, he screamed like a little girl.

* * *

 

 At first, things went smoothly, followed Lance's plan to a tee!

His hands gripped at the wheel, his face holding a smug smirk as he slammed on the gas. He could feel a shaky laugh bubble up his throat as he did so, a bad habit he had in anxious situations, really. Though he forced it down, not wanting to unnerve his friends more than they already were. ....Man. The ocean was similar to a bipolar older brother, sometimes. One minute he's steady, not giving you the time of day, then the next he's all up and yelling you in the face, making your boat shake! Yeesh.

These thoughts soothed Lance as he maneuvered his way through the dark waters, avoiding the more riled up waves in favor of a calmer path. Then, of course, as his luck would have it- another flash of lightning crashed near Blue, thus causing Lance to jump ever so slightly, his knuckles gripping tighter to the wheel. He heard a yelp from under the deck. Hunk. Lance gulped. Stay stable, you're the captain. If the captain panics, everyone does. "Don't worry guys! Everything is undercontro--"  
  


The boat shook as thunder roared through the sky once more, causing Lance to shriek in both surprise and fear. Fuck, well, there goes the 'stable' captain. Lance could hear the muffled yells of his friends, crap. "Guys, h-how is it going down there?" He calls out, attempting to sail through the storm go faster. ...He really should have gotten a more tech savvy boat, huh? 

"Not that good, Lance. The communicator has sent out our coordinates, but no response! _Zilch!_ Though, good news, we are almost to the final destination! Just keep on going!" She stated back, a small waver in her voice. Her voiced showed she was trying to keep calm, too. "Well, I g-got our supplies secure. But uh- I'll let you deal with the ocean up there buddy! I'll keep this place warm. Away from sea monsters and terrifying storms." Hunk rambled, sounding like he would scream, or barf, at any given moment, not that Lance blamed him. Though Lane couldn't keep down an annoyed grumble under his breath. Sheesh. Would have been nice to have some moral support above deck, man! This storm is too unnerving to sail alone.

Less than a second later the waves seemed to grow in size and ferocity, as if reading his thoughts and getting offended by them! Though, he couldn't help but swallow in dread, feeling a cold sweat forming. There were barely any calm routes now. It's wave sailing time. "Hold onto somethin' down there, the real sea captain comes out now! I have to battle the waves to save us and--" "We get it Lance, shut your mouth! Pay attention and _maybe_ try not to slaughter us!?" Pidge all but shouts back, panic and stress dripping from her tone. Right, right. Focus. Focus.

He slammed on the gas full force now. Ride or die. This was Lance's moment, this storm was his time. Time to show the others that he could do something amazing! That he was amazing. He had something special and wasn't just a third wheel in life. His hands felt rough against the wheel as he jerked it almost every moment, avoiding death via angry waves more than once. At almost every turn water slashed at his face, like an angry pirate in a sword duel against the captain. His mouth quirked up at the thought.

By now the deathly grey sky produced almost just as deathly scary rain. It was pouring, pouring like an angry god, spitting on him for entering his domain. Maybe that was what he was doing, maneuvering the god's waves like he owned the place, a small but clenched grin was now on his face. These stupid thoughts were the only thing keeping him placid. Keeping him from not giving out in panic from the ocean's pure unadulterated anger. The waves _really did_ feel angry though, Lance can't explain it, but they felt _seething_.

Though, not too far ahead of Lance's vision, was a mighty scary looking wave taking form, Lance scrambled to turn in the opposite direction immediately. That one right there would kill them, no doubt. Though, of course, with an abrupt turn comes abrupt movement to those unprepared. He heard a scream from Pidge and a stream of words- in the form of screaming- from Hunk. Oh fuck! Lance's head, out of pure instinct, zapped to the direction of the yelling, eyes widening in fear. "Guys, shit, I'm sorry I didnt mean," He stammered out in absolute regret, his hands becoming clammy in guilt and worry.

 

This was the only thing the ocean's storm needed. A blind spot.

 

The sound of terrifyingly close rushing water woke lance up from his panicked state, only to bring him into a whole 'nother new one. His head whipped to the noise's origin, though it was already too late. All that Lance could see was water, nothing but water. It rammed at the side of Blue, an unforgiving attack, hurdling her onto the side, causing lance to loose his grip on the wheel and his own balance. His head slammed onto the hard floor of the defeated Blue. Poor girl, she tried her best. The ocean engulfed him, Blue, and everything inside of her in one fatal blur. 

All he could see or feel was black.


	2. Feelings of dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance, Hunk, and Pidge awake on a new island that has not been mapped before. This is an amazing discovery in itself, but more mysterious findings wait inside the vast Rain Forrest taking up most of the island. 
> 
> Though, what the three of them worry more so on is what the hell to do. Being stranded is not your average everyday occurrence after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, hope you like this chapter! Right now this is technically still exposition, as I want to establish some main ideas and rules for the world before romance or anything of the like starts up. The next chapter is the last with exposition, so don't worry for how long it will take for 'them' to all meet!
> 
> And, as stated in the last chapter, I love comments! And if anyone is interested in fanart / things of that nature, I love that as well!! Anything with feedback I love lots, honestly.

Everything felt cold. Lance's whole being was.. cold. Lifeless. 

Though, as if it didn't even last a millisecond, Lance jolts awake. His chest beats erratically, eyes instantly blinded by the unforgiving sun. His hands scramble to cover his poor, poor eyes. No one should have to deal with that inhumane pain! 

 

"Lance! Oh thank god, buddy, I thought you were a goner..." A familiar voice heaves out next to him, and before he knew it a weight was rested on his shoulder. It took Lance a moment to process, though things eventually clicked. "Huh.. what? Hunk, the hell you mean with 'a gonner' talk. This beautiful face is never truly gone!" Lace slurred out, still feeling groggy from just waking up. He seemed to be processing slower than usual, his eyes felt weirdly sensitive to the light, and his head was pounding harshly against his skull. Aha, maybe he caught pirate disease or something.

Hunk looked at him with a concerned gaze, hand still laying on his shoulder comfortingly. It was grounding. "Geez, ya really don't feel it? You remember anything?" Hunk huffed out, now crossing his arms, looking kind of like a ticked mom. Lance could only raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh feel what? But yep, I remember being a totally cool captain and--" Wait.. Crap. Oh _crap_. All of yesterday's memories flooded into his brain, as if the angry waves were getting their last slash of revenge in the form of his thoughts. He remembered everything.. Shit..

Lance instantly sat up, though almost just as quickly regretted it. His side stung in agonizing defiance of his sudden movement. What the..? He whipped his gaze to Hunk, he could piratically _feel_ panic written over his face. Hunk only rolled his eyes, like he was expecting this. Jeez, rude.. "After the crash Pidge and I saw you on the deck, a large piece of glass from the window slashed at you on the side. Luckily it didn't hit your vital organs, but _hell_ man! You gave me a scare! I thought you..." Hunk swallowed his following words, unsaid tension lingering in the air.

"I- I'm so sorry man. I never meant to.." Lance choked out after some silence enveloped around the two. His chest clenched with unbearable guilt. God. He caused this.. Some silly 'only happens in the movies' situation, he failed so bad as a sailor, as a _captain_ , when his teammates depended on him most that he caused this. What a joke. With these thoughts pounding at his skull almost as hard as his headache, he almost let out a shriek at the hand slapped on his back. "Hunk! Jeez man, a bit more gentle if you can dude!" He stammered out, though a smile formed in place overwriting his previous frown. Hunk only let out a hearty laugh at the reaction. "Sorry, sorry! I forget how much of a twig you really are," That earned Hunk a light punch on the shoulder. "But seriously. Don't blame yourself, okay? Those waves came outa' nowhere." He stated out as-a-matter-of-factually.

Though, Lance felt himself deflate more even with this support. "Thanks dude but, that's my job! It was my job to take care of you guys from those suber-duber scary monster waves. If i'm not god at my only job then.. Yeah. But uh, speaking of us, where the crap is Pidge? Is she alright?" Lance coughs out awkwardly, not meaning to pour out his feelings like that. Now especially wasn't the time to discuss that stuff. "Oh! Pidge is fine, and Im fine too, so glad you asked." Hunk said with a chuckle, now giving Lance a playful punch as well. Lance only let out a huff in reaction. "Though, she's out there on the ship, trying to see if there are any tangible supplies. But I bet she got caught up with looking over her communicator. Y'know how she is."

Lance starts to chuckle at Hunk's statement, though is cut off with the sounds of clatter coming from the ship. "Speak of the devil!" Hunk laughs out, a large smile resting on his features. Lance then found himself joining in, distracting his downcast emotions for a small while. Pidge emerged from the ship, not looking all too good. The ship itself was laying at an angle, part of the right side and bottom of the boat resting on the sand, most of the glass shattered, and mainly the whole upper-deck destroyed. The bottom of the thing didn't look so great either, really. "Sure, laugh all you guys want! I'm the one risking things to see if there's any hope for the communicator functioning. I almost fell through a weak point on the boat, if either of you were worried." She huffed out, eyebrows furrowed. Hunk's previous laughter went to dead silence after hearing her tone. Even if someone didn't know Pidge what-so-ever, even a dimwit could tell she wasn't happy. 

"Look, Pidge, none of us are happy with how things turned out, but-" "There are no buts Hunk! Our expedition flunked. This- this was the only hope I had left. I just want to find my family and--" The rest of her sentence was muffled, as almost instantly Hunk and Lance enveloped her in a large hug, though lance tried to be light, as to not agitate his wound. As the two hugged Pidge, small pitiful sniffles could be heard from the girl. "Don't lose confidence yet, there's still a chance! While we don't have much, we are all super smart. Especially you! We can get through this. We'll find em." Hunk stated, arms still wrapped around Pidge tightly, as if his life depended on it. "Yeah, like Hunk said, we totally got this! I mean, you have me on your team after all." Lance stated with his suave™ tone of voice, giving the two a playful fingergun. 

After slippig out of Hunk's python grip of a hug, Pidge let out a light laugh, wiping her eyes slightly. "Thanks guys. I... I needed that. Sorry for loosing my cool. But, I agree. We have hope. There's always a chance to make things right, there has to be."

* * *

 

 

"Alright, then it's settled!" Pidge exclaims from her position on the sand, stretching her arms over her head as she said so. The three of them had been discussing what they should do next in this situation, though opinions were split. "Since we can't come to an agreement, even though my choice is _obviously_ most important, I've decided on this outcome," She states, hands moving along with her in random motions as she spoke, "I'll scavenge around in the ship and get any tangible supplies, Hunk will look around the island for any supplies to build a functioning shelter, and Lance can go explore further inside the island and try to find anything of value. Just be careful, alright? Don't want to infect that wound-" "Or encounter any monsters! This place is already creepy enough as it is.." Hunk cuts in, his face looking a bit more pale, even at the mere thought. Pidge scoffed, shoving Hunk lightly. "Aha, yeah, sure. While there could be unidentified creatures here, I doubt any could be considered monsters, hell, if anything it's probably only the bacteria that are different! Though if that is the case I wish I coulda brought my microscope with me." Pidge rambles on for a bit, Hunk listening with great interest. Lance... can't keep up with the direction this conversation was heading.

"Jeeeesh, while you nerds have your mini lecture, I'm gonna do my job! Ciao!" Lance laughs out, hoisting himself up from the sand. His side burned with agony, though Lance disregarded that feeling in favor of his growing curiosity. "Oh shoot, wait, Lance! Remember to meet back up at around sunset! Be careful buddy." Hunk calls out to Lance as he makes his was closer to the rainforrest-like area of the island. He shoots the other a disregarding wave, his attention more so focused on said rain-forest area. Ever since Lance had awoken, he hadn't been able to get a good look around the area yet. A good portion of the island was beachy, palm trees scattered here and there, lots of sand dunes and grass in some areas, though that's not even the best part. Where this place really shined was it's rain-forresty type place, even though he had yet to enter, Lance was sure he would be amazed. Even just glancing at the outside of it, you could tell it is greatly flourished, un-touched by man... probably. Though, Lance would be much more hyped if it weren't for the fact they were currently trapped here, no way of escape in sight- yet. As Pidge said, there's gotta be a hope.

With this thought, Lance takes his steps into the unknown.

His first sight was green. Lots and lots of green. 

 

Lace stands still in awe, taking in the sights around him with pure wonder. Of course he'd seen rain-forests before, but mysterious island rain-forests? They were just so much more... _wow_. The green was vibrant in a sense that it didn't look like saturation levels were turned to an ugly maximum, but somehow found the perfect balance of bright and beautiful. He could take only the leaves and stick em' right in a vase, and his mother would love the sight. Lace let out a sigh with that train of mind, his mama... he already missed her. Though he could think about her later, right now he wanted to be amazed instead. He shouldn't be feeling homesick right now, not yet. 

His eyes trailed around the place, soaking up it's sights eagerly. The trees towered over his lanky form, even blocking out most of the sun, yet was still bright enough to see the place. Along with these trees came a few flowers, and boy, they were pretty! Lance noticed one just beside his leg, and crouched down to get a better look. It wasn't too small, in actuality it was right under his shin in height. Its color was a very bright orange with its "petals" (They looked more similar to long leaves, in a way) sprouting from the middle. And below these leaf-like petals were actual leaves longer than the "petals" themselves, giving it a beautifully tropical look. It looked familiar, though, he couldn't put his finger on it.

After inspecting the lovely plant, Lance forced his attention back up to the vast nature around him. He did have a job to do after all, and said job wasn't to just gawk at a single plant. So, although slowly, Lance makes his way deeper through the flourished place to search for anything of value. Along the journey he catches glimpses of various berry bushes, useful, flowers, probably not useful, and more trees upon trees, which are of course not useful. Lance made sure to hold onto any of the fruit he knew was edible for a fact along with other small things, like a pretty rock he found and some flowers- which yeah, not useful- but fun to have! Though, amidst all this, he had felt... weird. Weird in a sense that the back of his neck felt goosebumps rise, and every small noise would make him jump. He felt as though he was being watched. Like he was wandering where he shouldn't be. Which was dumb, of course. There was no other sign of human life anywhere near him! And thinking its a monster is too much of a Hunk problem, so he really shouldn't be scared right now..  But...

Lance let out a shaky breath, forcing his spine up straight with 'confidence'. Even if there was a monster, he could totally take it head on! Yup, totally! Repeating these thoughts every now and then helped to calm his riled up nerves as he searched around for anything that could distract the feeling. Though, the more he searched, it somehow got worse. The mere sound of a bird whistle would make Lance jump at this point. So, as a way to calm his paranoid state, Lance decided to search out one more useful item/area then take his route back to the beach to tell the others.

Thankfully, not even ten minutes or so later, Lance stumbled across a small stream in the midst of all the greenery. Lance's relief was immeasurable. Streams were lifesavers in situations like these! ....Well, that's what the internet says anyways. Lance stumbled over to the stream, but stopped cold in his tracks. The feeling of dread had washed over him entirely now. He knew that, if he took another step, he would definitely fuck up somehow. So standing still for a moment, Lance decides to finally trust his gut and get the hell out of there. Though, before doing so, he makes sure to quickly scrape a large X in some of the trees near the stream as to remember the dirction he had taken. Then, in an act of _complete_ and _utter bravery_ , bolts his way out of the terrifyingly beautiful rain-forest. 

* * *

 

 

The minute Lance makes his way out of the overgrown rain-forest, he is met with a starry sky and two extremely concerned faces. 

 

Pidge and Hunk sat infront of a fire under a, surprisingly okay, shelter in a more grassy area of the beach, most of the shelter's weight resting on a nearby sand dune. Hunk must have not finished yet, huh. Though, before he could start to wonder about the shelter, Pidge and Hunk almost instantly run up to him, looking both angry and relieved. "Lance! What the heck, we said sunset! Not freaking midnight!" Pidge exclaimed, clearly tired. Lance felt his chest churn with guilt. "Yeah dude, you can't just disappear for so long like that, we thought you died- _again_!" Hunk spluttered out after, looking very close to crying on the spot. Lance could only shuffle his feet awkwardly as the two spoke, trying not to look at them in the eye. He always felt so bad letting them down like this, what a great friend he was huh? 

"Guys, I know I'm saying sorry a lot today- and I mean a lot- but I really mean it!" Lance exclaimed back, jostling the fruit resting in his hands as he did so. "But inside there is so... gorgeous! Prettier than any girl I've seen!" He states with an giddy smile, thus causing a smile to form on the other two as well. "Must be very extravagant then, cause I swear you drool at any living thing with boobs." Pidge throws out with a cackle, causing an 'offended' gasp from Lance. Hunk only laughed as the whole ordeal went on. "Wow, you make me out to be some gross pervert, which I am not, fyi!" Lance states with the most angry tone he could muster, though found himself in a fit of giggles with the others soon as well.

"Aha, god, you two are too much to handle sometimes. Juust kiddin'. But lance, find anything worth somethin' to us?" Hunk asks after a moment or so. Lance perks up, handing over some of the various fruits to Hunk, which the other accepts gratefully. "As you can see, I got loads of awesome stuff. Oh, yeah, there's also a stream further down in the rain-forest area! Great findings, am I right?" Lance asks with a smug smile, running a hand through his hair. Both Pidge and Hunk simultaneously roll their eyes-- jeez, how do they even do that!? "Honestly, that is actually very useful Lance, I'm pretty surprised. I thought you'd just come back with a pound of flowers all stuffed in your hair." Pidge stated with a cheeky grin of her own, now causing Lance to roll his eyes as well. "Okay okay, make fun of of your good pal Lance hour is over, but what did you two get finished?" Lance mutters out curiously, now sitting down, feeling terribly sleepy. Maybe walking around for hours on end has caught up with him..

"Well, for starters, I obtained our first aid kit from the ship, thankfully it is fully intact! So when you feel the time is right, we can sterilize that cut of yours." Pidge starts off saying, plopping down onto the ground next to Lance, Hunk following suit. "Other than the first aid kit I found that at least half of our food preserves were either soggy, gone, or had sand in it. At least we crashed in such a flourishing area, if we hadn't, things might not be so well off for us." Pidge drones, Lance making slow head nods now and then to show he was listening, Hunk gave him a worried glance but said nothing. "So, other than food, my map. It's- it's done for." Pidge's voice cracked, but she continued on anyways with heavy eyes. "I found that the communicator is broken, but not beyond repair. Hunk and I may be able to fix it in a few days time, as our tools survived the storm as well, if things go well at least." Pidge finishes with a large breath. 

"Uh, I made the shelter and fire. Bam." Hunk states with a dopey smile and shrug, earning tired chuckles all around. "Though, we're all tuckered out. We can talk more about this in the morning. Goodnight guys. We got this." Hunk says with a warm smile, enveloping the two in a large bear hug, before promptly passing out. Poor guy, must have worked non-stop making this thing... And, with this thought, Lance was out like a light, Pidge following soon after.

 

 

In the midst of their friendly banter, Lance had completely forgotten to tell them about the feeling in the forest. Well. Maybe that can be discussed another day, after all, it was probably Lance's nerves playing him like a puppet anyways.


	3. Quintessence.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback into keith's perspective from the last chapter, as well as some background information on how certain things work / dynamics in this universe!
> 
> Soo more of an informational / catching up chapter that fills in some questions!
> 
>  
> 
> ** ((P.s! The ~ is used to indicate a memory sequence, as it could be confusing to some if It was't made certain of it being a memory. Sorry if it's distracting to anyone!))

 

_ Recent Findings, page 7._

_While out investigations were put on a hold due to recent hurdles, this tricky situation has just turned on its head! This island, as it turns out, has inhabitants that our modern world has yet to even imagine! Different forms of bacteria, insects with different form of genetic makeup that no one could possibly imagine, the plants themselves produce varying results and reactions to various tests inflicted upon it. Wait till I bring these findings back, a whole new light will be shed on those of normality._

_Though, that was only the tip of the iceberg. We have discovered humanity's most renowned myth, well, more so they discovered us._

_Along our trip we were struck by an utterly horrendous storm, practically out of nowhere. Though, as things were getting unnaturally bad, we felt our boat take a direction for its own, guiding us specifically through the waves and unto a nearby island. The storms were still ever present, though we had thought we had found a new hope forming._

_As we docked the ship, we realized it was not the boat and out of our own skill guiding us. It was merfolk, two to be exact. One with a striking black tail, a large fellow, and the other smaller in stature but with a piercingly long red tail. As we exchanged pleasantries, we soon began to realize that they too were in shock of seeing us. Apparently humans were a myth to them as well._

_So, of course, Matt and I thoroughly asked various questions, which the black tailed one- aka Shiro I soon learned- happily complied with. The red one only stayed nearby, listening and watching us intently. Here are my questions in a short and sweet list, lord knows I've already written enough for my old fingers as it is:_

_***** Where do you originate from / your habitat?: Deep ocean floor. Their bodies have a thick pressure resistance._

_***** How'd you find us?: We were far out of our kingdom's borders on a short expedition, and felt a foreign presence._

_***** How did you 'feel' us exactly?: Your Quintessence, of course. _

_***** What is this Quintessence?: Your bodies natural sense of self and identification. Some are louder than others, differentiate between species. And those who have a stronger control and knowledge said Quintessence, like myself, can even emit or feel certain feelings to other's Quintessences. _

_Those are all the questions I asked the two so far, as it seemed the afternoon was coming to a close and they seemed more hesitant to stay by the second. We excused ourselves to go retire for the night in our ship. Though, we made sure to ask them to visit us again tomorrow for more questioning. They seemed not very willing, especially the small red one, but they thankfully agreed before vanishing into the watery abyss._

_This is the discovery I, we both, have been searching for. Will jot down more as I gain more Information._

* * *

 

 

     Keith sat along the edge of the large body of water deep inside the tropical island, eyes absentmindedly scanning the area, as he's done a thousand times before. 

The whole area was very lush, surrounded entirely by greenery and trees that could possibly touch the clouds with how tall they were. So many flowers, an abundance of tall grass, birds of all sorts, bushes upon bushes, fruit, and whatever else Keith couldn't bother to take note of. What wasn't here is the question to ask at this point. Other than the greenery, the lake itself is magnificent. It is very deep, could be even considered an extra mini ocean with it's mere depth. Inside the lake rests various crevices, a few caves Keith and Shiro take rest in, other smaller oceanic life, and much more. Though, after a while, even beautiful things get unbearably boring. Sometimes, Keith even misses the deep abyss of their old ocean kingdom, despite its _many_ flaws. Though, he shouldn't really open that thought process right now. Too tiring to even get into that mess.

 

As his thoughts slowed into a quiet lull, his eyes glanced down to his tail. Still long yet not as muscular as he'd prefer it to be, like Shiro's. Shiro's tail, a clean black, large and strong. He was really the guy you wouldn't want to mess with back in his kingdom days. Though Keith's? Not as much. Only a measly red. Sure, Shiro says he's fast and agile, but he longs to be strong as well, not only stupidly quick. His hands trailed down to the tail in question, running his fingers over the various scales on the lanky thing. It was weird. This tail, able to morph it's shape into those of legs when not surrounded by water. He himself didn't really know of how it worked, nor did he care all too much, but it is interesting to think think about every so often... Sheesh. Seems as though everything now was confusing in some form or another.

With a sigh, his gaze trailed up to the sky. Hm. Back to its usual blue. Last night it had turned to a nasty dark grey, meaning a horrendous storm was taking place. Of course, that storm was in no shape or form natural. He remembers it so vividly.

 

**~**

 

The waves were so loud, clashing against on another madly. He could feel it in his gut, his Quintessence picked it up vividly. The pure anger the waves emitted, even if they themselves didn't cause this emotion to be present within them. He felt it. He felt them. Intruders.. _humans_.  It's been a while since this had occurred, and last time it did, well, it ended badly to put it simply. He could already feel his face start to turn sour at the thought.

He dipped his head back under the lake's waters after going up to inspect the sky, the sky in question was dark and the clouds swirled with an angry passion. He shook his head grimly, this would definitely affect the island-- well-  _they'd_ probably want that too uh? Keith pushed himself off of a nearby rock to gain momentum as he swam through the clear waters, eyes set in his mind's engraved direction, to his and Shiro's cave.

As Keith frantically swam over to their cave, he noticed the other was waiting outside of it anxiously, a grim look resting on his face. So he sensed it too- well, of course he did. Shiro always had a better grip of Quintessence than Keith after all. "Shiro, there- there's human trespassers _agai_ \--" "I know, Keith." Shiro cuts him off abruptly, already rubbing at his temples with stress, clearly troubled. He's thinking about those two again, huh? "We can't risk another situation like last time. We can't risk anymore lives, including our own." He breaths out, eyes downcast. Keith feels his gut knot up in anxiousness. 

"I'm sure whoever it is, can handle the waves." A lie. They both know it. Both of their Quintessences could feel it, though it goes unsaid. "Sometimes we must let.. _them._. have their way. We don't own the waves, nor those people trespassing. They knew the risks coming to these parts of the ocean, now they.. have to take the consequences, as much as I hate saying that." Shiro muttered out, hands curled up into fists. He.. really blames himself for those two. So much.

Before Keith's brain even formed a singular thought, he found himself hugging Shiro, his brother, tightly. "Yeah. I- I know." Keith mumbled out as he gripped the other tightly, face scrunched up in  embarrassment. The two didn't embrace often, they weren't the touchy type, though when hard situations came up- it was needed. Shiro did nothing for a moment, only stood still, though slowly hugged Keith back just as tightly- if not more so. No more words were changed, merely the silence as the storm raged on above them and their Lake on the island.

* * *

 

 

 

     Keith, during his time on the island, has lots of things to keep his mind off of other pressing matters.

For example, one of said things is talking to either Shiro, Allura, Coran, or some of the other islander creatures around the area. All of which seemed to be busy. Though, Keith and Shiro would never have dreamed of coming up to this island, let alone meeting it's inhabitants, if they hadn't have met those two humans. For merfolk, it's obligatory to stay under the waves, as that's where they belong, or well- that's what they were told to believe. Keith and Shiro themselves didn't even know they were able to metamorphose legs until they tried going onto land! Even now, it always felt odd shifting into those things.

Speaking of legs, Keith could of sworn he felt something deep in his Quintessence grow the tiniest bit stronger. Weird. Though, ultimately, anything involving the oddness of Quintessence Keith opted to ignore, as he can never warp his head around it. Honestly, it makes him angry trying to understand it really. Though, the more he tried to ignore the feeling, it kept gradually growing. Not much, but to a point where it made Keith feel all the more agitated that he had no idea what to do about it! Then, soon after his aggravation, it clicked. He recognized this feeling. It was old and foreign, something both he and Shiro had tried to tune out in the night of that storm.

The feeling of a Human. 

In _their_ rainforrest.

On _their_ island.

Keith's fists clenched and his eyebrows furrowed in an unreasonable anger as he shifted himself onto the dry ground, forming those legs so alien to him. It was always humans, wasn't it? They always did start these avoidable problems. And now they have the nerve to step onto their land? After what happened? After what they, what Shiro, had to go through? It wasn't right. They can't just be here. Humans and merfolk, or any other _folk_ for that matter, were not meant to meet. Keith's judgment clouded over with this blinding rage and possessiveness over 'their' land that his Quintessence was practically oozing the feeling out of him. Consequences be damned. The humans were meant to die in that storm and leave him and Shiro alone, for good.

Keith pushed his way through the thick shrubbery of the island, though made sure to stay silent about it. While he was practically fuming, for no good reason might I add, he still wanted a good look at the human. He, despite his anger, had a growing curiosity of how someone could manage to survive such a fierce storm and even dare step foot in a potentially dangerous rain-forest like this.

After a short search, he eventually caught sight of the human in question. Huh, this one seems different than the two Keith had met before. Tanner, looks younger, and alone. he couldn't help but wonder if he was a lone survivor, or something along those lines. Though, the most interesting- well- anger inducing, thing about them was the fact they were collecting some of the island's goods. This made Keith's blood _boil_. Of course he didn't own the island or anything, but what right does this guy have taking from it like it's no big deal!? None, that's what. 

The guy just kept on walking though, like he has no care in the world, which was even more enraging. But the longer he watched, Keith noticed, the longer the human seemed to get more jittery, looking around more often at even the slightest noise Keith would accidentally make. It had to be his Quintessence rubbing off on the human, dammit. he should probably leave soon, before the human- or Shiro for that matter- notices. 

Although, just as Keith is about to make his reluctant leave, he notices something alarming. He realized that he had been subconsciously letting this human get so close to the lake, _their safe haven_ , while watching him that the human was now walking towards the river. The very river that tunnels into their nearby lake. In a stupidly quick thought, keith starts to panic. His anger and panic starts to swirl together, making his stomach feel knotted up in his pure tension as he helplessly watched the human inch twoards it.

Then, as if a miracle had occurred, they stopped. Well, froze more like, they look petrified. And, in a flash, they took off in the direction they came in, Keith only watching with surprise written on his features. His Quintessence, his _stupidly_ uncontrollable Quintessence, had actually worked in his favor! It had miraculously transmitted such pure fear into that human to run off! Keith couldn't believe it. A giddly smile rose to his features as he practically ran towards the nearby lake, ready to gush the news to Shiro.

As he ran to said lake, his mind couldn't help but turn back to the human. It was weird though, that he managed to survive that storm. Even more so that he was able to feel Keith's purely random Quintessence. ..Maybe Keith's just getting good at this 'transmitting emotions' thing. Yeah, probably. Though, even so, his mind still subconsciously kept a picture of the Human he saw fresh in his mind. It was such a new experience, how could it not. Well, Keith guesses at least. The mind is an enigma, man.

 

Not too long after, Keith skirts his way back to the Lake, a light grin still resting on his face. Though, that was quickly wiped off after seeing what- well- more so who, was waiting for him. 

An angered looking Shiro, arms crossed and eyes squinted- a double "I'm disappointed in what you just did" package Keith _really_ didn't want to see.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Sorry if this was more on the boring side, but some info here is essential to the main plot, so it had to be done yaknow! And, don't worry, more of the plot will be revealed in the future. This was just the basic stuff to know to put it simply!
> 
> As always I love comments, fanarts, kudos' and anything of the like! So don't be shy doing any of them, it really motivates me!
> 
>  
> 
> P.s: If any of you are curious as to what Keith & Shiro's Metamorphosed form is, it's basically human-shaped legs but with various amounts of scales growing up to their lower stomach, excluding the soles of their feet. Their gills still remain on their necks and sides, though!

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! This is my first Voltron story so I hope you all like it!  
> If I got any of the character's personalities / way of talking wrong, please tell me in the comments!
> 
> Don't worry about the plot n whatnot (if any of you even are, lmao), I have most things planned, unlike my other stories. Thoughhh, if you have any suggestions of what you wanna see / which characters you'd like to be added in, I'll try to make them work into the story! 
> 
> And, final thing. I love constructive criticism! So don't feel awkward / scared to comment about it. As well as I absolutely love comments and fanart in general, just an FYI! 
> 
> (( P.s: Sorry if the sailing scenes were not very accurate to real life. I have never once sailed and rarely get onto boats,, its just an interesting concept to me- ))


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